| N A M E |Timothy Jackson Drake
| A G E |19
| A L I A S |Red Robin
formerly Robin, Boy Wonder
| A P P E A R A N C E |On the shorter side, Timothy's just about 5'5" and 125 lbs of lean, athletic muscle - definitely more than the average teenager. Being at peak physical condition lead to a lot of things, mainly Timothy's still soft features coming in with sharper lines, sleeker edges, and a slight tone of masculinity that a boy his age shouldn't yet achieve. There's a lot to the way Tim looks and quite a bit of it tends to reflect how Tim looks at his own self in the mirror. Confidence shines in the soft blue of his eyes, only laced with an edge of insecurity that he's never one to admit. Expressive and emotive, despite his need for that stoic demeanor, a lot of his nerves dig lines in the softness of his features, turning the boyish charm Tim's known for into a mixed bag of 'too burdened' and 'much too mature for a boy his age'.
Though the confidence Tim expresses often straightens his back and puffs his chest, it leaks into the way he styles himself. The cockiness of his smirk to the way he coifs his hair, short and soft at this current time. It's got a dapper edge to it that alludes to his maturity, but with a hint of the teenager that's still itching to get out and live a normal life. A lot of the time, Tim dons a charming smile - something to knock people's socks off - that twitches at the corners to belie a deep seated burden of emotional turmoil into the deep, toned muscles of his hunched shoulders.
| A B I L I T I E S |- Extremely talented at hand to hand combat; particularly with the use of the bo staff, a signature weapon of his (also his favorite). While he's done extensive training under Bruce, having just as much knowledge as Grayson (when he'd been Tim's age) in terms of martial arts, Tim's expertice at bojutsu is almost unrivaled - at least in enthusiasm.
- Contains an astounding intellect, allowing him to pursue a number of scientific subjects, mainly computer sciences to give him an upper hand at hacking and infiltration. His intellect surpasses even that of Dick Grayson and may match Bruce Wayne, or, well, that's what he'd like to think. In reality, he may one day match Bruce in his deduction and knowledge, but that day has yet to come. Doesn't diminish his genius, however, and a little genius he is. also doesn't mean he has any smarts when it comes to being social or acting 'normal'
- His intellect also extends to Tim's ability to formulate complex strategies and tactics, as well as give him an upper hand in leading others. Contrary to popular belief, Tim's not as adept at being a lone wolf compared to Grayson or Todd. Though he's still able to lead solo missions and tackle tough cases on his own, Tim works best with people that are willing to follow him through hell.
- An astounding detective, Tim may not be on par with Batman himself, but the boy's got a keen eye and a sharp mind that surpasses most - also surprises a lot of people. Not many people have been able to deduce the previous Robin's identity, much less lead that back to Bruce Wayne being Batman. Though he's not sure why no one can tell Clark Kent is Superman - all those glasses do is make Clark look like Superman Avec Glasses. Or that his dumb clone's shirt size is four times too small, yet doesn't rip? Fuck that noise. Someone get him a jacket
- He'll grumble about it, but this boy can actually knit and sew well too.
- Like the rest of the boy wonders, Timmy's got an issue with cockiness. While humble, Tim still struggles on actually acknowledge other's plans as superior to his own. A lot of the time, he's gotta be right for the sake of it.
- However, Tim takes all the blame for anything under his umbrella of influence. If it happened on his mission under his lead, he'll take the blame for it and believe it's entirely his fault.
- Doesn't take criticism well; tends to consider himself right in most aspects, especially when talking to his peers.
- The kinda guy who apologizes for getting caught.
- Bottles up his emotions in lieu of a tactically efficient approach to many situations. This always backfires, as Tim's one of the more emotional Robins and his stoic visage cracks even under the slightest pressure.
- Puts his role models on a pedestal, wherein they can do no wrong.
- Has a soft spot for asshole clones of an alien paragon. "Who the hell wears shirts that tight anyway? Should be illegal."
Tim's story doesn't officially start until he meets Dick Grayson, a circus acrobat that his parents fancied more than him. At least, that's what he liked to tell people. Odd to have to tell other kids who came over that his parents didn't have autographs of famous actors, but rather of famous acrobats. Of course, Tim couldn't be much different and thought Dick had both the mind and the body of an Olympic athlete - something he aspired to in his younger days. Young as in a little toddler and watching the kid fly through the air like it had been made of water instead of bidden by gravity.
Of course, the actual gravity of the situation wasn't the actual show itself (Dick was amazing and that's mostly what Tim remebered) but what had happened during it. Prior to the show, to quell the worry of Tim's mother, Janet, his family asked to take a picture with the star of Haly's circus, the Flying Graysons. It was there that Tim first met Dick, being a little over six years old they didn't really talk much, but what stuck was Dick's dedication of his performance to the little toddler. It wasn't until the Flying Graysons took to the air did the show truly start and truly plummet, in every sense of the word. Being a kid, Tim didn't quite understand the impact of death, though his intelligence shown through years later when the little nine year old found himself remembering ever aspect of what happened that day.
And by then, it wasn't very hard to figure out exactly who that might have been consoling the young Grayson under the tent. His logic had been stated like anyone should have known that only Dick Grayson could do a quadruple somersault in Gotham city, so of course the Flying Grayson legacy was Batman's Robin. At the time, Tim had reached the age of nine and had been eager to trace Robin's identity to that of Batman himself. Honestly, at that point, he thought everyone should have known. They didn't, that much was certain. And the fact that he could watch the daring duo from afar and keep that his own little secret was enough for Tim to keep his mouth shut about it.
It hadn't been until Dick took up the title Nightwing (something young Tim thought had been such a cool name at the time; he hides that still strong admiration under a pile of indifference toward it, now) and Jason Todd took the role of Robin did Tim ever change his sights from focusing on being normal, going to school, getting a job, all the things a kid his age shouldn't be thinking of to wanting to be something more. A hero, like them. Of course, neither Janet nor Jack knew of Tim's little ambition and the little steps he took toward it.
Being eleven and training himself to potentially be at their level was no easy feat of itself and no easy feat to hide, either. It helped that Tim mostly relied on his own intelligence to get him through sticky situations. No one expected a kid to know how to effectively pull the wool over their eyes multiple times over. Of course, without the resources, Tim only knew the rudimentary things and mostly just honed his mind until he could literally skip from middle school algebra to college level physics based calculus. Well, maybe not that far, but the kid knew his derivatives. Tim didn't care much about school by then and mostly went about curtailing Batman and his adventures with the newly minted Robin.
And then Jason died and everything after that had come crashing down. Tim kept his distance, then, but glued his eyes to any tabloids or papers he knew had all the facts. The internet provided many sources of the Batman and his recent adventures, as well as the disappearance of Robin at his side. From there on, the Bat became more ruthless, more prone to caring less about justice and more about taking his pain out on the criminal world. Tim could see just as well as Dick, when he'd came back, that Bruce Wayne had fallen into a dark hole that he couldn't climb out alone.
Batman needed a Robin and even though Grayson had come back from his stint as a Titan, Tim knew he wouldn't be enough. Not now, not after everything. And so, after helping Nightwing out on a rudimentary operation and finally approaching both him and Bruce out in the open, Tim pleaded his case. Thus began his goal to become a hero and something that both Bruce and Batman needed. With Grayson on his side and Alfred taking up the rear, Bruce couldn't quite find it in himself to say now. Happy with the outcome, and after provided Tim with enough training before taking his leave, Grayson left Tim to take the mantle of Robin. Officially, from a Robin himself. Even if Bruce didn't believe Tim's worth just yet, Grayson did and that was plenty of fuel to work from.
Training under Alfred first came tough. Tim knew it would only get harder from there and he bolted himself down and held on for as long as he could. Under the rigorous training Grayson (before his leave for Bludhaven) it'd taken its toll on Tim for the better and finally, it came as no surprise that Bruce Wayne wanted to train him himself. After that, Tim took the title graciously and the old uniform fit him like a glove, even if it had been worn a few times.
Of course, it'd be years before the thirteen year old would earn that title for good and earning Bruce's approval would take even longer. It wasn't until Tim had been under Batman's wings for a good two years did he finally fit the role as Robin and he'd been doing a damn fine job so far, if Batman's demeanor and behavior had cooled down in that time. Jason still lingered over his head, though, he could see it in Bruce's eyes whenever Tim made his rounds around the manor.
What earned him his badge and a new costume - and finally, finally the right to be Robin rather than be Robin's replacement - had been a stint involving his parents. They'd come in just in time to save them from sacrifice out on their cruise in the Caribbean, but they'd been too late to stop the preparation and so the poison Janet and Jack drank had already dug its claws into their systems. With a dead mom and a comatose father, Bruce had expected Tim to fall down a dark path, one that would lead him to the same fate as Jason. He wasn't ready to be Robin. Wasn't ready to fight crime and justice and be exposed to the pain and burden that would place upon his shoulders.
Until he was.
Tim never succumbed to the pettiness of revenge and, while he did feel anger at his parents' harm, it wasn't unfounded and it didn't fuel his cause. No, anger was his right to an emotion and he showed it clear as day, but Tim didn't let that drag him down. He let it out and buckled down. What he really wanted and what really proved himself to Bruce had been his staunch will to right the wrongs in society and bring justice where justice was due, but not to the expense of his own humanity. And definitely not the expense of others. He saw what Jason's anger had done, not only to himself, but to Bruce, as well and he wouldn't be the kid to finally break Batman. It'd be easy, from his vantage point and where he placed himself in Bruce's life, to snap him like a twig without meaning to. And so he didn't and from then on, the kid wearing a mask not made for himself finally found the suit that truly fit him. Not like a second skin, like the old uniform, but like his own skin. Like it was a part of him.
Thus began his actual adventures with Batman and the bond they formed truly cemented itself, like it had with Dick and even with Jason. It wasn't until he had a run in with Bruce's actual kid did Robin feel the need to move on. At that point, Bruce had taken it upon himself to move on from Jason's death and with Tim's help, it made that moving on a lot easier. The brat's entrance a few years into Tim's stint as Robin (all shiny new costume and mask) couldn't have marred his mood any more. That wasn't a child, that was a demon imp and Tim couldn't have disliked him more. But, Tim was nothing if not professional even in the face of Damian attempting to steal the title of Robin from him, in which case spurred Tim to leave Gotham entirely.
However, he only let the mantle of Robin go when he felt Damian could effectively hold that respect it garnered and could do what was expected of him. It didn't take long before Tim had left for the Titans, however, taken a spot as the leader as graciously as he took to being Robin. Thus, Tim thrived under the role of a leader and even though he still held the name Robin there, he did his best to take what he was a step further. It took a few, long tedious months before he finally stopped butting heads with Supernman's fledgling clone, Conner, and corral the rest of the Titans under him to much effect. But once he did, he earned that title just as Grasyon, someone he'd always yearned to make proud, and maybe he saved the world a few more times than Dick did. Kidding, of course, Tim didn't keep a tally, why would he?
After hearing of Bruce's disappearance, however, Tim left the title of leader Wonder Girl, Cassie Sandsmark, for the time being and took up calling himself Red Robin upon his arrival at Gotham. It would be awhile before he finally got into the role, hoping to maybe follow in Dick's footsteps as Nightwing. Now it was a matter of finding out just what he had missed and getting right down to business finding the Batfamily's surrogate father.
